Alright kiddies. There's a slight time jump here, so the twins are now three! AHHHH! Also, warnings for this chapter: gang violence and domestic fights...so get ready!

Anyway, we do not own Attack on Titan or the characters belonging thusly. We DO own the babies however.

ENJOY YOUR SUFFERING!

~Aria and the Ghousts


He was immediately aware of an extra body in the alley with him. Levi's underground instincts had never quite left him, so when he heard the distinctive scrape of a foot behind him, he knew he was in trouble. He knew he was in even more when he heard multiple. He kept walking, hoping the possible assailants would get smart and leave him alone. No such luck.

The light footsteps suddenly quickened and Levi turned on a foot to face his attackers. They were upon him in seconds.

The one that reached him first threw a clumsy punch-one easily avoided by the experienced Captain. He grabbed the man's fist as he dodged, using his momentum to flip the man over and onto his back. Another punch was thrown his way, and this one he deflected just barely with his arm. He landed a swift quick in the attacker's gut, making them crumple to the ground.

More and more of them kept appearing. Where there had only been two or three to start, the alley was beginning to fill with more-there were at least a dozen now. Levi gritted his teeth. No matter how much experience in fighting he had, there was no way he could take this many.

He was in trouble.

But he had to fight.


Levi was late. He had been due back from the capital earlier that evening, but it was well into the night and he still had yet to appear. Eren was worried and some instinct within him was sounding warning bells. Levi prided himself on being a timely person, so much that he usually arrived ahead of schedule - something had to be wrong for him to be so late.

"Come on, come on… Where are you?" were his muttered words as he paced about the entryway to headquarters. The twins had been asleep for a couple of hours by that point, as had half of the soldiers on base. This was wrong.

Suddenly the front door opened, though slowly.

Eren's attention was immediately upon the motion, his chest swelling in anticipation.

Levi staggered through the doorway, looking an absolute wreck. He was bruised and battered, dozens of cuts visible through the tears in his uniform, blood was seeping out from a wound on his arm, his breathing was ragged, and his hands were bloodied and darkly bruised. Yet, there was a distinct expression of anger and general distaste to be seen on his features.

Eren gaped in utter horror at the scene, the shock freezing him in his place. "Oh gods… Levi!"

The raven peered up at him blearily, leaning against the door. He sighed heavily and allowed himself to relax some, feeling thankful to be back somewhere relatively safe.

In seconds, he surged forward but hesitated to touch his spouse anywhere in fear of aggravating an unseen wound. His brow furrowed with concern as he took in the damage, "What the hell happened?!"

He heaved a few breaths before leaning his head into Eren's shoulder, "Fucking group of street thugs got a hold of me. I couldn't fight them all off."

"Dammit," Eren cursed. He carefully grabbed Levi's arm and hooked it over his shoulder, supporting the side that his lover seemed to be protecting more. He began moving them forward slowly, frowning when Levi hissed in pain. "I'm waking up Hanji," he declared.

Levi swore under his breath, "Do you have to? Not sure I'm up to dealing with her shit right now."

Eren grunted and peered over at him. Those vibrant eyes widened when they landed on his arm, "Wait… i-is that a bullet hole?"

He shifted his arm a bit, giving a minor wince as he did. "It only grazed me. I only need a few bandages and some sleep, that's it."

"They shot at you!?" His partner was visibly shaken by such a revelation. "What else did they do?" He shook his head, "No.. you need to be checked over by Hanji."

The older male groaned quietly, "They ganged up on me like fucking cowards and beat the shit out of me. It's nothing I haven't had before."

Eren's breath hitched, "Levi…" Tears welled up in his eyes.

Levi huffed and brought their foreheads together, "Calm down you damn brat. I'll let Hanji look me over, but I'm fine."

His husband shook his head, crying softly. "Stop that.. You're not fine. You're not in the Underground anymore, L-Levi. Let us help you. There's something wrong or you wouldn't be hurting this much."

He rolled his eyes and appeared disgruntled, but nodded nonetheless. "Fine, whatever."

Eren pulled away enough to gently cup his battered cheeks. "I hate them," he said, "they tried to take you from me."

This time he was silent as he averted his gaze.

The response was concerning. "Levi?"

"What?" Came his snippy reply.

He tried desperately to not let it get to him, he knew the man had to be in serious pain. But there was more than physical injury to deal with, his pride had also been hurt, no matter how absurd it was. "There was nothing you could've done with them ganging up on you. It's a miracle you're not more severely injured." Eren steered his spouse towards the nearest cot and settled him down on it.

"I would have to agree with that," a new voice said. Eren jumped a bit, not having realized they had been followed in.

Hanji stepped forward, looking nothing short of furious. "How many throats do I need to slit, Levi?"

Levi tightened his jaw, grateful for the distraction. "At least ten, maybe more. It was a bit hard to tell when I was fighting them off." He would be hard pressed to ever admit that they had gotten the upper hand and gotten him to the ground. It had been a long time since he had been ganged up on, and never had he faced so many at one time. Eren was entirely correct, it was remarkable that he wasn't still lying there in the aftermath.

Hanji scoffed in response, "Should've figured. Dumbasses don't stand a chance otherwise."

He smirked despite himself, "Damn right."

Eren was unusually quiet, though those large eyes gave away his inner anger. A fire was stirring within him and it wouldn't soon be quenched.

"First thing's first," their researcher friend said, "I need your jacket off to see the full damage. I can already tell you have a mild concussion, which is probably part of your attitude. Let me access your ribs.." She pressed lightly against his chest, grimacing at the slight give she felt.

"Fuck!" Levi all but shouted, "Don't press so hard d-dammit." He cursed himself mentally for audibly portraying weakness.

She held up her hands in surrender when she had finished, "Sorry, sorry. Looks like three broken and a lot of bruising."

Eren wordlessly grabbed up one of his lover's hands and cradled it against himself, eyes flickering with both fiery anger and deep concern.

"Okay jacket off, I need to see the rest; especially that bullet wound."

"It's only a graze, shitty glasses," he grumbled in reply. He was only just able to conceal the pain from his face as he sat forward and began trying to remove his jacket, though his brow was still tight with obvious discomfort. The last thing he wanted or needed was for Eren to coddle him due to his injuries.

"That doesn't change the fact that they fucking shot at you," Eren growled. Despite his venomous tone, his motions were gentle as he helped the other remove his uniform jacket.

Levi grunted and let his arms fall limply when the troublesome thing was off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah.. Just patch me up and give me painkillers. I'll be fine."

Hanji looked him dead in the eyes as she took a firm hold of his bad leg and extended it towards her with a slight jerk.

"Shit!" He instinctively hunched forward with the pain, glaring harshly at his comrade. "Fucking warn me or something dammit!"

Her dark expression was reply enough. "You'll be fine, huh? So I should just ignore the sprained ankle?" She shook her head at him, "Face it, Levi, you're out of comission for a couple of weeks in the very least while all of this shit heals. Drop the damn 'I'm fine' act."

He knew it was true, he did. But he couldn't accept his current state of weakness. "No. No fucking way. I'm going to deal with it. I still have to find those fuckers and finish them off before they come back again."

Eren looked a mix of horrified and pissed off. "No. No. NO! Stop this! In your state now, they wouldn't hesitate to finish what they started. I won't fucking let you do that."

Levi was a bit taken aback by the outburst, but outwardly appeared offended. His gaze dropped to his lap in defeat. "If I hadn't have been so weak and failed, this wouldn't even be an issue," he muttered angrily.

His heart ached for his spouse, hating the self admonishment. Eren grabbed his face with a tender hold. "You're not weak, Levi. You survived a gang fight, fought back, and brought yourself home despite your injuries. If the tables had been turned, I wouldn't have made it out at all."

He shot him a pointed glare, "Shut your mouth, you would have; you're no pushover Eren. Besides I would've gotten the sons of bitches responsible for it, and ended them." Levi couldn't hold back a wince as Hanji continued prodding him for further injury.

"And what do you think I'm planning to do?" Eren asked scathingly. "They're not getting away with this, not by a fucking long shot."

"You aren't doing anything. The kids need you, so just leave it all to me." The look he received made him scowl, "And if you're going to get your damn knickers in a twist, I'll wait a few days before going."

"No."

"No?"

The expression Eren wore was somewhat reminiscent of the scolding face he had for the kids. "No, Levi. You are injured. Your ribs are broken. You're not going anywhere."

"That's why I said a few days," he replied nonchalantly.

Both Hanji and Levi were surprised when the titan shifter shot to his feet and grabbed at his hair in rising frustration.

"Stop it!" He half shouted, "Your ribs won't heal in a few days, dammit! You don't have my titan healing, it's going to take weeks. They'll know they've injured you and go for your weak points." His gaze was alight with a determined fire, "I'm going after them. You have to rest and heal."

The raven haired Captain frowned, "You're not going after them on your own."

Hanji suddenly pulled on the bandage she was winding around his ankle, tightening it in a painful manner.

"Fucking s-shit! Stop that you bitch!"

"Of course he's not going alone," she said seriously. "What am I? Titan fodder?"

Eren grabbed up his husband's hand again, kissing it softly. "I need you here Hanji, he might need you. You're the only one I trust to look after him."

Levi grumbled under his breath, the words 'fucking fine' only just audible.

He glared weakly, "Shut it, babe. It makes me feel better to have you here, Hanji, honestly."

"Fine, fine," she sighed, "I'll stay here with Captain Grouch-Ass, but you're taking Moblit with you."

Levi looked to him with a very sour expression, "You're not going."

"Why can't you trust me with this?"

"Eren, I fought them, not you. I have years of street fighting experience and I was still overwhelmed, so what makes you think you'd stand a chance? I won't have you recklessly running to them and getting hurt."

His lover looked a bit betrayed by his words. "I may not have a lot of experience with street fights, but I know how to fight. I lived on the streets too. Plus, they wouldn't have let me into the Survey Corps if I didn't know how to fight! Does that count for nothing?"

A dark expression took Levi's face, "You think your shitty academy training and measly one year of life on the streets is even close to the twenty years I spent fighting for my life? It doesn't even compare, Eren. If those assholes got the best of me, they would have no problem picking you off. Like hell I'm going to let you fight them." He was mildly surprised when tears welled up in his spouse's eyes.

"Thanks for pointing out how useless I am," was the bitter reply.

He scowled and grabbed the younger man with his good arm, holding him close. "Stop twisting my words. You're not useless, shithead, you've proven that numerous times in the past. I have no doubt that you'd give those bastards hell, but I'm not going to let you." His voice quieted as he looked down at their joined hands. "The truth of it is that they overwhelmed me and it fucking scared me. I won't have you coming home like I did, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

Eren pulled away, but not entirely so. He looked so defeated. "I am useless. All those times I was injured in the past.. All the times I got to lay in bed realizing how fucking worthless I am while you handled all the fighting."

The admission hurt to hear. How had he not seen the signs that Eren was struggling with himself?

"You're always protecting and defending me, Levi," he continued softly, "and I'm the one left to be a useless heap in a sickbed." His vibrant eyes glittered with unshed tears, ones he refused to let fall. "I'm done. I'm going to fight this one for you and I don't give a damn if you don't want me to. They hurt you. I won't forgive myself if I let that go."

Levi was quiet for a long moment, seemingly searching his soul as he gazed back into his eyes. At long last, he scoffed. "Obviously you're not going to see reason.. so you had better be careful."

Eren blinked in utter surprise, though it quickly morphed into a smile. He leaned in and stole a kiss, "Thank you."

"Shut up," he snapped without any real heat to his tone. Perhaps the brat had a point, maybe just this once he could hand him the reins and allow him to handle things. He hated his own weakness, and felt a burning shame that he had not fared better.. but who was he to hold Eren back if he truly believed he could and should do it?

Hanji cleared her throat and moved away from her patient momentarily. "You definitely need to take Moblit. He's nowhere near Levi level, but that man can get dirty in a street fight." Her attention then moved to her friend, "Alright you mummy, I've got basically everything wrapped and treated, now do yourself a favor and relax."

He shot her a distasteful glance, "And how the hell am I supposed to that?"

She smirked and jabbed him with a syringe, pumping him full of heavy painkillers. "Like that," she said simply.

Levi glared, eyes slightly widened, "You bitchh…" He fell forward into Eren's waiting arms, quickly succumbing to the medication running in his veins.

Eren gently settled him back on the cot, brushing his bangs from his face, "You really making me take Moblit?"

She glanced at him sideways, "You really going after them?"

He nodded.

"I'll tell Moblit."


When Levi next became aware, he was clothed in pajamas and resting in the infirmary room that Eren unfortunately seemed to frequent. He breathed out heavily when the full weight of his injuries hit him. The medicine had apparently worn off.

"Hey.." a soft voice called.

He blinked and peered over to his left to find his spouse sitting faithfully by his side. He grimaced at the tender look he was recieving, the expression for some reason irritated him. "How long?"

Eren reached out and smoothed his bangs, "Around four hours, it's nearing dawn now." His gaze flickered with concern, "Are you in pain? Is that why you woke up?"

"I'm fine, Eren. Get that fucking look off your face."

A strike of hurt went through him. He had to remind himself that one of Levi's rather numerous injuries had been a mild concussion which would undoubtedly affect his moods. "..Sorry."

"Ahh! Our favorite Captain Grouch-Ass awake from his beauty sleep? Still feeling like you can take on the rest of a gang and finish what you started?"

He glared at her.

Hanji smirked, "Thought so. Rest easy, dummy, the investigation is already underway. We're handling things without your reckless self going after them."

"Shut the fuck up, Hanji," he growled in warning, sitting up in the bed.

She crossed her arms, "And where are you off to?"

"To make myself useful," he spat, bad arm trembling as it struggled to support him.

"Watch that arm, I popped it back into socket while you were out."

"Shut up."

Eren's brow furrowed. He reached out and put his hand over his spouse's, "Levi, please, you need to rest more. Hanji only just patched you up completely a few hours ago!"

"Fuck no, I'm fine," he snapped back, continuing to try and rise from the bed.

Hanji raised a quizzical brow and pushed lightly against his shoulder, successfully knocking him back onto his elbows.

Levi visibly flinched as his injuries were jarred at the movement, "Fuck! Don't do that shitty glasses!"

"Then stop trying to get up, dumbass! You're seriously injured. You can't just prance yourself out of here."

He audibly scoffed, "My shoulder hurting is not an excuse to slack off. Let me out of this damn bed so I can go get some work done." With that, he tried again to rise from the infirmary bed.

The brunette scowled at him and pushed him down all the way, "Don't give me that crap, you and I both know it's not just your shoulder. Did you think I hadn't noticed you gritting your teeth?"

Eren sent him a pleading glance, feeling a bit unsure as to what to do. "Listen to her Levi, please."

"No," was his growled reply, "I'm not going to sit here like a worthless piece of shit."

The titan shifter's fists clenched in rising frustration. "You're not worthless, you're injured. There's a huge difference." He didn't understand why his spouse couldn't just see things as they were.

"Being an injured piece of shit is no better than being a worthless one. I won't sit here and be coddled," Levi said.

Eren couldn't keep the hurt from entering his glare, "And how the hell do you think I feel every time the tables are turned and I'm the one in the bed? I dealt with it. So shut up, lay down and rest."

Those silver eyes turned on him like daggers. "No, Eren, I won't. I'm either getting out of this bed or you're going to go get my fucking paperwork, so I can actually make myself useful."

Seeing that things would continue to escalate, Hanji quietly left with the intent to get the two things she knew would stop their fighting.

The younger shot from his seat and shook his head, "No! You have never let me do anything because you knew that was best for me. So I'm going to do the same damn thing to you!"

"The hell you are! Go get my goddamn paperwork, you useless shit!"

His brilliant eyes hardened with frustrated determination, "No. You're going to fucking rest. Don't fight me on this, Levi."

Levi's expression was incredibly dark, clearly showing the anger he felt. "Go get my paperwork."

It wasn't so much the anger that got to him, it was the pure hostility in his lover's voice that tore at his heart. His eyes filled with tears as a sense of hopelessness rose from the pit of his stomach. "No… you need to rest. Stop this."

"Don't you fucking cry on me, Jaeger. Go and get my fucking paperwork and I'll relax once something gets done."

Jaeger.. Levi hadn't referred to him as that since they had gotten married. The sudden resurfacing of the old nickname stung and forced his tears down his face. "Then stop being so fucking unreasonable," he cried. "I didn't do anything to deserve you being such an asshole! Just stop and listen to reason. You can't even hold a pen in that busted up hand of yours!"

He groaned in frustration and slammed his fist into the nearby end table. Eren flinched at the noise and stepped away, half of him expecting pain; an old and forgotten habit from his time in the hands of the military police.

"If you're going to be such a bitch about this, I'm just going to get it my own goddamn self." With clear effort, he pushed himself to his feet.

Eren's shoulders trembled as he watched, keeping himself from aiding his stubborn lover. "I'm not going to help you hurt yourself," he murmured.

The door to the room suddenly opened as Levi limped towards it, revealing their twin children. They looked up at him with matching sleepy teal pools, Hanji stood behind them with her hands on her hips.

"P-Papa?" Hazel called a bit unsurely, eyes taking in his bandages.

His face softened a bit at the sight of them, "Hi babies. Papa just needs to go get something from his office really quick, want to come with me?"

Before they could even answer, Hanji stepped around them and gave him a vicious grin. "Actually, Papa needs some nice company here in bed because he's really tired!" She then proceeded to manhandle him back towards the bed.

Levi struggled against her the whole way, cursing as he went. "Get the hell off of me, dammit!"

She none too gently shoved him back into the bed and leered over him. "I will restrain you if I must, Ackerman," she hissed. "You've obviously greatly upset your spouse, don't scare your kids too."

He paused in his fight and sent a quick glance to his downtrodden husband and curious looking children. He frowned and glared at the researcher. "You will fucking pay for this," he whispered.

Hanji smirked in response, "Counting on it. Now you had better fucking apologize once the kids fall asleep or I will literally kick you while you're down. Seriously, there's no need to be a dick."

Levi said nothing but was visibly seething from his reclined position.

The woman offered the twins an angelic smile, "Cheer Papa up for Aunt Hanji and Daddy, 'kay kiddies?"

They blinked at her and turned their attention to Eren who was wiping away his tears.

He offered them a weak smile when he noticed their gazes. "We've got to make sure Papa rests, babies," he said softly, voice straining a bit.

From the bed, the normally cool headed Captain was spouting profanities and grumbling angrily. "I fucking hate this bullshit," he muttered at one point.

Cayden worked himself onto the bed and tilted his head, "What 'fucking', Papa?"

Hazel, meanwhile, followed her twin up and grabbed one of their parent's larger hands and held it delicately. "Why Papa mad?"

Levi seemed to be too angry to even hear their questions, as he merely continued in his stream of curses.

Hazel whimpered when the hand she was holding suddenly tightened around hers, "P-Papa.."

Eren noticed this immediately and stepped forward, placing a hand on Levi's shoulder in warning.

His spouse's gaze was deadly when it flickered up to him. "Papa is fucking pissed off because Daddy is being a piece of shit," he said as if to explain to the twins.

The younger male flinched away as if he had been struck, his large eyes filling with a deep sadness.

Cayden frowned, "Papa, no call Daddy mean names. Daddy is sad."

"I wouldn't have to if he wasn't being mean," he muttered.

Hazel patted his cheek with her small hand, "But Daddy is momma, he mean because he worry."

Almost silently, the subject of their conversation left the room.

"Daddy…" Cayden called after him sadly. His brow furrowed and he looked to his other parent with what could only be described as a look of scolding. "Bad Papa!"

"No yelling Papa, hurt feelings," Hazel chastised right alongside her twin.

Levi suddenly realized how silly it all was. He was being scolded by his three year olds on an adult matter and they were being sensible about it, while he was behaving childishly over something his spouse really had nothing to do with. "You're definitely your Daddy's brats," he relented.

Eren's absence from the room suddenly made him feel as though he were in a void. He always took the warming presence his spouse had for granted and regretted it afterwards. A sickening feeling wormed its way into his gut.

"You two should go to Daddy," he said to them with a hint of shame, "he needs you more than I do right now."

Both of them shook their heads in disagreement.

"Daddy not like us see him cry," Cayden said, snuggling up against him with heavy eyes.

"So we stay here," Hazel declared, "Auntie Hanji woke us up. We tired."

Levi found nothing more to say as the twins fell back asleep on either side of him. Their small forms were comforting, and the heat they radiated seemed to seep into his bruised body and ease the pain.

Eren reentered the room nearly 15 minutes after their children had succumbed to sleep. In his hands was a stack of paperwork and various pens he must've rummaged around for. He set them on the end table nearby without looking at him.

"Here, knock yourself out," he said in a biting tone.

The raven found himself mildly surprised by the gesture, "Thanks…"

He stopped in his motion to leave. "..I'm not going to act like I'm not bothered by this," he said softly. "You really upset me but I know that you don't care right now.. And that's.. Fine. Just know that despite this hurt, despite everything in me screaming not to give in and let you have this damn paperwork, I'm doing it. I'm doing it because I love you."

The words stung, but Levi knew his own words must've hurt worse for Eren. Regret made a home in his stomach, his skin nearly crawled from the feeling.

"I'm sorry I'm such a terrible disgrace to you. Rest well."

"You're not a disgrace Eren," Levi murmured instinctively. I'm the disgrace here.

Eren faltered in his bravado, "I-I'm not doing this now. You got what you wanted, so everything is as it should be. I'm going to check in on the investigation. Good evening, Captain." With that, he left.

Captain. He couldn't even remember the last time Eren had called him that seriously. Levi wanted to kick himself for his earlier pettiness. He could've blamed the pain, or the mild concussion, or even his own self hatred, for his words. But it wouldn't change the fact that he had said the things he had. He had verbally struck out against his spouse and now he would have to face the damage he had caused.

Vaguely he recalled the tears in Eren's eyes as he bristled with rage, the severe flinch in response to his anger fuelled pound on the end table, that dark sadness in his eyes as he left the room.

Looking at the stack of paperwork sitting innocently on that end table made him feel sick. He settled deeper into the bed, pulling his children closer. His arm and ribs twinged painfully at the movement but he ignored it. With remorse running thick through his system, he made himself relax enough to rest. He owed it to Eren to actually listen to reason.


Sorry~!

Part 2 coming soon!